Work Health and Safety Blog

There's so much happening in the world of health & safety. Changes in legislation and requirements, changes in best practice, changes in ... you name it. Here's my take on making it simple.
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Amazing survival story - work safe – stay well…it's what we all want

Maralyn Kastel - Saturday, June 30, 2012

I survived another work day. I get to go home tonight and spend time with my loved ones.
The hardest part about researching this piece is that there are so many examples of deaths and serious injuries, blood, gore and pain, every day.

The great thing about thinking about health and safety and before doing job tasks is that you don’t generally get to see the fantastic life-saving results. I have found that people tend to put down a great safety result with “just another day on the job”.

We often forget to remind ourselves that getting home at the end of the day is not always good luck, but also good management by an individual, and implementation of good business practices by the business owners.

When was the last time you highlighted something good or positive that happened? Now compare this to how many times we yell, scream, jump up and down, complain, whinge or otherwise carry on when someone does something wrong or straight out stupid? Think about how often we may get frustrated at something another driver does in their vehicle when we’re out driving?

Health and safety matters can sometimes feel like they are over the top, but the next time someone complains about how onerous or cumbersome health and safety requirements are, perhaps they can be asked another question:

“Is it better to be annoyed at having to do something safely (including the paperwork), or would you rather we go to your home and tell your family that you won’t be home today because it was too annoying to stop and think about how to do a job safely? “

Some of thing we’d rather not have to say:

…..I’m sorry _____ isn’t coming home today because someone thought it was better for them to get home 10 minutes early than it was for your wife/daughter/mother/sister/cousin/loved one to make it home to you.

…..I’m sorry _____ isn’t coming home tonight, he’s in a coma because we couldn’t afford a helmet to protect his head. We didn’t think anything could happen in the five minutes he was working.

…..I’m sorry _____ isn’t ever coming home because we had a deadline and that was more important.

…..I’m sorry. We thought _____ knew what all the different sirens meant and someone else should have told us he wasn’t out of the building.

….I’m sorry ______ We couldn’t afford a new chair, so ______ will now need to arrange everything else in his life to cater for his bad back.

Some examples of offering condolences:

Words seem inadequate to express the sadness we feel about ______

May the love of those around you help you through the days and years ahead

___ brought so many gifts to our life. We will never forget ___.

Our hearts are with you in this time of sorrow

I can't imagine the sadness you must be feeling from your loss

Words fall short of expressing our sorrow for your loss

If my hug was strong enough to take away your pain, I would start now and never stop.